Star Park
by kb9vcn
Summary: He imagined that he could see the stars reflected in her eyes.


Miki ran up to the open doors of a passenger train, effortlessly bearing a huge backpack and bedroll on her shoulders. She turned back and shouted. "Hurry up, Piko! The train is about to leave!"

Piko straggled up, struggling with both a smaller backpack and a very long black duffelbag. "Hang on," he gasped. "I'm carrying a telescope that's both longer and more valuable than ***I*** am."

"Aw, don't say that, Piko," Miki said sincerely. "You're valuable to me. Good slave labor like you is really hard to find."

"If you value your telescope, hold the door open," Piko said as he pushed past her. "If the doors close on this bag, they'll turn it into two shorter telescopes."

Miki followed Piko into the empty train, and the doors closed behind her. "Made it!" Miki said cheerfully, as she shrugged off her backpack and plopped down in a seat.

"Looks like we've got the train to ourselves," Piko said, as he set down Miki's telescope as carefully as he could. "I thought maybe more people would want to watch tonight's meteor shower."

"They don't know what they're missing," Miki said sadly. "I know you're not as interested in astronomy as I am, but I'm really glad you came with me— and not just to carry my telescope."

"I still can't believe we're allowed out this late without a chaperon or a curfew," Piko thought out loud. "We've hung out together a lot, but I guess this is really only our first date."

"Everybody knows you're a responsible guy," Miki said proudly. "And I trust you, Piko."

"Well, thanks—" Piko started to say modestly.

But Miki wasn't done. "And also, everybody knows you're a girly boy, and if you **did** try anything funny, ***I*** could **break** you like a dry twig." She snapped her fingers for the effect.

Piku hung his head. "All too true," he said sadly.

Miki patted his head. "Don't worry, Piko. You're **my** girly boy. And after we get married, we'll have a even bigger telescope than this, but we'll never have to move it. It'll be permanently mounted."

"Number one," said Piko, "it's a little strange to talk about marriage when we haven't even kissed yet. And number two, where are we going to put a much larger permanently mounted telescope?"

"In our state-of-the-art private observatory," Miki said matter-of-factly.

"And where are we going to put our private observatory?" Piko asked, amused but also genuinely interested.

"We should have some open areas with a good view of the sky in the palatial estate behind our mansion," Miki said.

Piko frowned. "Uh... how are we going to afford a palatial estate with a mansion? Along with the private observatory and the much larger telescope? I'm probably gonna be a computer programmer, and programmers make good money, but they don't make **that** much money."

"Don't forget about **me**," Miki said eagerly. "And don't forget that I'm gonna be a world-famous idol singer, celebrity astronomer and part-time astronaut. You can be a computer programmer if you really want, but I was actually planning just to keep you as my house husband."

"...oh," Piko said. And then, he suddenly grinned. "Well, in that case, I really **don't** have anything to worry about, huh?"

"Told you so!" Miki spun around on the seat, kneeling to peer out the window behind her. "Wow! We're already away from the city lights! It's so dark outside, it's like we're on a space ship headed for deep space."

Piko stifled a yawn, and slumped in his seat as Miki chattered on. _She sure is excited_, he thought. _But I wish I had got more sleep. We'll be lying on a blanket in the park, looking up at the sky. It's gonna be a long night..._

* * *

"Piko?" a voice whispered. "Hey, Piko?"

_Mmm_, Piko thought to himself sleepily. _Soft... warm... smells like cherries..._

"Piko!" the voice said more urgently. "Wake up! We're almost at our stop."

Piko opened his eyes— and found himself lying across his seat, with his head resting on Miki's lap. "WHOAH!" he cried, suddenly wide awake and sitting upright. "I'm sorry, Miki! Why didn't you say something?..."

"It's alright," Miki said sweetly. "I didn't mind. Actually, it was really cute. But you're gonna have to do better than that. We'll be lying on a blanket in the park, looking up at the sky. It's gonna be a long night..."

Forgetting his embarassment, Piko yawned again. "Yeah... Do you mind if I get some coffee before we head for the park? That looks like a convenience store right next to our stop."

Miki frowned. "I don't know, Piko... I wanna get to the park and set up the telescope as soon as we can—"

Piko played his trump card. "I bet we could also get one of those little cherry turnovers, and warm it up in a microwave."

Miki quickly changed her answer. "There's **always** time for cherry pie."

* * *

Freshly fortified with coffee and pie, Miki led Piko over the short distance from the train stop to the small rural park that was hosting stargazing parties. They found an open spot at the top of a low hill in the park.

Miki set down her backpack and quickly unrolled a heavy blanket. "Set up the equipment here, Lieutenant Piko," she said.

"Sir Yes Sir." Piko opened the tripod and set it in place, and then helped Miki mount and align the scope.

Miki took a first look into the eyepiece. "Wait, something's wrong. I can't see anything."

"Condensation?" asked Piko, as he walked around to the other end of the scope tube.

"Shouldn't be," Miki said. "It's a warm night. Can you see anything wrong, Piko?"

"Yeah, there's something on this end," said Piko. "...oh, wow! I think it's a bat! What are the chances of **that** happening?"

"A buh- buh- **BAT!?**" In an instant, Miki cowered behind Piko. "Don't let it get in my hair! Don't let it get in my clothing!"

"Don't worry, Miki," said Piko. "I'm sure he's more scared of **you** than you are of him." He waved his arms at the telescope ineffectually. After a few seconds, the tiny bat flew away by itself.

Miki stood up straight and tried to regain her composure. "*_whew_* Thanks, Piko. I owe you one."

"This just makes up for that one time you got rid of a spider for me," Piko said. "I'm surprised that you can handle spiders, but you're scared of bats. Spiders are **way** more scary than bats."

"Yeah, well, spiders can't **fly**!" Miki said.

"Yeah, but bats can't spin webs that get stuck on your face!" Piko said.

"Yeah, but spiders won't drink your blood and give you rabies!" Miki said.

"Yeah, but bats won't wrap you up, paralyze you and liquefy your internal organs!" Piko said.

Suddenly, Piko and Miki both remembered that they were off by themselves in a rural area, late at night and without any lights at all. An owl hooted ominously, somewhere in the distance.

"Cuh- could we tuh- talk about suh- something else?" a pitifully trembling Miki asked.

"Yes, **please**," Piko squeaked.

* * *

Leaving Miki to her telescope, Piko lay back with a pair of binoculars. He was able to catch a few meteors, but he was mostly content to gaze at the sky, and to listen to Miki's excited chatter.

After some time, Piko's view was suddenly obscured by a big crimson eye. "Whatcha lookin' at?" Miki asked playfully, leaning over him.

"A heavenly body," Piko said smoothly. He lowered his binoculars and gave Miki a lascivious wink and a grin.

"Aw, that was cute!" Miki sat down, and then lay back next to Piko. "You've been saving that one just for tonight, haven't you?"

"Yup," Piko said proudly.

"It's a shame it's not true," Miki said matter-of-factly as she looked down at herself. "I don't have a heavenly body. I've hardly got any boobs at all."

"Oh, Miki!" said Piko. "I didn't mean to—"

"But after we get married," Miki said, "you can still look at other girls' boobs. "I know boys can't help it."

"...do you usually talk about marriage, and, uh, stuff like that, on the first date?" Piko asked nervously.

"Might as well," Miki said. "Life is short. And I really like you, Piko. Do you like me?"

Piko paused for only the briefest moment. "...yeah. Yes. I really like you too, Miki."

They lay silent for awhile, comfortable in the silence, but also wondering what the other would say next.

"...hey, Piko?" said Miki. "You remember saying that we haven't even kissed yet?"

"...yeah?" said Piko. His heart began to race.

"Now might be a good time to do something about that," Miki said quietly. "I mean... if you want to..."

_Well_, Piko thought to himself, _she can't make it any easier for me than __**that**_.

He rolled himself up on one elbow and towards Miki, and looked down at her. She looked back up at him with the sweetest smile. He imagined that he could see the stars reflected in her eyes.

They kissed.

Piko rolled back again, savoring the faint taste of cherries now on his own lips.

"That was nice," Miki said, a bit breathlessly. "I really liked that."

"Yeah," Piko said. "Me too."

"But when we go on our **next** date," Miki said, "and we do that again, you should also use your tongue a little bit."

"I'll try to keep that advice in mind," Piko said nervously.

* * *

After another round of skywatching, Miki and Piko packed up and left to go home. They caught the last train home, and once again, they had the train to themselves.

After they sat down, Miki turned to Piko. "Are you going to stay awake for the ride home?" she asked.

"Well, yeah," Piko said, slightly irritated at being reminded of his nap. "Uh... Miki? What are you doing?"

"Taking my turn." Miki lowered herself onto the seat— and Piko's lap. "Just make sure you wake me up before the train reaches our stop, OK?"

"Uh, sure," Piko said nervously. Miki smiled, closed her eyes, and almost instantly fell asleep in his lap.

Piko could not resist. With trembling hand, he reached down and, ever so gently, stroked Miki's _ahoge_.

Miki giggled in her sleep, cuddled up to Piko, and began to make a soft snoring sound like a purring cat.

_**Best. First. Date. EVAR**_, Piko thought to himself.


End file.
